Topic: nook

Though Barnes & Noble no longer makes its own tablets, it's still in the hardware business with a brand-new $179 Nook intended to take on the iPad, this time with a model built by Apple's chief rival, Samsung.

While Barnes & Noble hoped its custom-built Nook tablet could compete with the likes of Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle Fire, continued losses for the bookseller have forced it to exit the hardware manufacturing business, leaving third-party partners to build future Nook devices.

Sprint revealed that it throttles about 1% of smartphone users who excessively use data while roaming, while Barnes & Noble is reportedly mulling the separation of its Nook line to outside investors and Apple pulls out of running for TV rights to the U.K.'s Premier League.